iMovie 11 How-to

Collect all your parts in one place – on the desktop, your documents folder, wherever – I suggest inside a folder. That makes it easier to grab the parts.

Fire up iTunes. Drag any audio files into the iTunes window.

You could create a new playlist and put them there – useful if there are a ton of tunes already in iTunes.

OPTIONAL → Fire up iPhoto. Place any still shots there, into a new event.

Fire up iMovie.

Start a new project.

Collect the clips into an Event

You are supposed to be able to drag-n-drop, but I’ve had trouble getting it to work.

File → Import → Movies

select the file.

Place the FIRST one into a new event.
The rest of them, place into that same newly created event.

So you have movie clip in an event, external audio in iTunes, and still shots in a folder [or in iPhoto].

Start Assembling the Project

In the Event pane, drag on a clip to highlight the part you want next.

Hit the E key on the keyboard. That places the clip in the Project.

Keep doing this in the order you want the clips to appear.

You can drag clips into a new order if you change your mind.

TO ADD PHOTOS/STILL SHOTS: Drag the file from your folder directly into the Project Pane [the part where the clips are being ordered].

TO ADD PHOTOS FROM iPHOTO: Press Command-2on the keyboard to show the Photo browser. Click a photo and drag it to the Project Pane.

TO ADD PHOTO FROM YOUR FOLDER: Drag the file into the project pane.

Make Changes

Drag clips into a different order.

Add transitions → Command-4 to show the transition browser. Pick one, drag it between the 2 clips where you want the transition used.

Add Titles → Command-3. Drag a title ONTO a clip to add it to a clip. Drag it to a BLANK SPOT of the project pane to add it to the end of the list [i.e. titles will be on a black screen]. Then you can drag it to the desired location.

You can generally click and drag anything to any other location. Click ON a clip, then click the GEAR icon to make changes [like make the audio louder, change the start/stop points, etc.]

Finish – when everything is more-or-less perfect:

IF you have a lot of hand-held video [the camera was just held in your hands, and so it moves around], you can select File → Analyze Video → Stabilization. That often make the video less jerky.

File menu → Finalize [this can take a while. Go for a walk to relieve stress.]

Export – now where does it go?

Morning Announcements – as I type this, we are still experimenting with the correct settings. Look for an update on http://tech.mountdesales.net for the latest info.

Share → iTunes

File will be located inside the folder Music → iTunes → iTunes media → Home Movies

Share → Export

You can select the location and sometimes the “size” of the final project. It’s all checkboxes. If you have an option, I suggest selecting the biggest [i.e. best quality] option

Share → Export using Quicktime

Gives you the greatest number of options. You can select the final size, frame rate, video and audio codecs to use, etc.

Which settings to use will take some experimentation. I like exporting three or four ways and seeing which works for what I’m trying to do.